“Hicks,” I tried warning Sutton, but it was a cracked, pain filled, attempt at sound.
I got no answer from Sutton but one of them reached down and grabbed a handful of my hair. He yanked my head back, lifting my upper body off the ground in the process and my face to his.
“The fuck did you just say, bitch?”
I coughed harshly into his face using that time to pull my gun out and over to my side then smiled.
“I said die.” I pulled the trigger and, in his moment of surprise, raised it up to his face and pulled it again then rolled away as men started yelling behind me.
I came out of the roll on one knee, jaw clenched from the pain in my ribs, and concentrated with every ounce of strength left inside me on tuning the rest of the world and my own sixes out. They were useless now.
Four men stood in the back of an alley while another two ran straight towards me. I aimed center mass at the big one on the right and fired, knowing it wouldn’t stop him, but hopefully slow him down enough to take him out of the game. He was huge, Sutton huge, and I didn’t want any part of that.
He stumbled and put his hand against his chest. I had a split second to decide on whether to try for a kill shot with such shaky hands or to slow the other down as well.
I swung the gun around and fired without aiming. He was close, and it wasn’t hard. Unfortunately, the shot to the stomach only seemed to piss him off.
He was close enough now, and I fired another round, to his head this time. As he dropped, I swung back around to the Sutton wanna-be and fired again as he came at me. And again. Nothing. I checked the other guys and gave the one another second to get closer before aiming at his nose and firing ‘til he fucking dropped. It took 3 rounds for me to hit him.
Fuck. That was eight rounds with only two guys down. There were four more to go. That were now charging me as well.
Fuck. I couldn’t run, And I damn sure didn’t have enough bullets. My only saving grace was none of them seemed to be armed.
“Where are you?” I screamed.
A shot fired from behind me and I pulled my finger free of the trigger and launched myself into a left roll. Please, be Sutton. I came up in low and froze when I saw Carter standing with a revolver. A fucking revolver. I...
I twisted towards the other men and yelled, “head shots!”, then just started firing into them. I had seven and Carter maybe five. Six at best. I slowed them down while he took them out. Well, took two out. Turns out, Carter wasn’t that great of a shot. A fucking revolver?
We looked at each other and I raised a brow at him.
He frowned but nodded, threw his gun down, and started walking toward them.
I cringed as the poor gun hit and slid across the pavement. I mean, I know it was a revolver and everything, but it didn’t deserve that.
Also, wasteful. If you can’t shoot them with it, hit them with it. Especially if they’re bigger than you. Which the guy I had most certainly was. Ignoring the way they had all made my skin crawl and burn was hard enough. Up this close it was impossible. I ducked his first swing and came up with a pistol punch to the base of his throat then twisted around under his arm and out of his reach.
He gagged and his eyes widened as he grabbed his throat. He turned his head to me and tried to speak but only choked harder.
I waved my gun at him.
Anger filled his eyes as he looked from me to the gun and then back to me. When he started for me, I backed up until he froze.
He leaned forward in the dark and squinted. His jaw dropped. “You!” he croaked out, barely above a whisper and then his eyes widened and he took a step back.
“Yes, me.”
His eyes shifted to the other man then back and his entire demeanor changed. He grinned as he dropped his hand from his throat. It wasn’t a happy grin. It was vicious and full of malice. Of recognition and vengeance.
The frigid tightness around my spine I’d been trying to ignore spread up to my neck and wrapped itself tighter around me as it started shutting my muscles down. Shit had just gotten real bad, real quick. Whatever he’d just thought of or figured out had changed my outcome of survival here.
Fuck.
I let out a harsh shaky breath and hoped Carter was a better fighter than he was shooter because he might be next in line with this guy. If I didn’t get my sixes under control, I’d be completely incapacitated. Frozen, defenseless, and at his mercy. If he had any.
I watched him, let him have his moment, while I concentrated on calming my sixes. Sutton’s words on repeat in my mind.
‘Deep breath in.’
“We’ve been looking for you for a long long time,” his hoarse voice sang out sadistically.
I frowned and took another step back. My gut churned and the unsettling urge to throw up rose as his smile grew and excitement lit his eyes.
‘Find your center.’
“You can run again all you want, little monster. We lost you once, but now that I’ve found you again, you won’t get far. I promise.”
The sounds of Carter and the other man faded away as my heart raced and my mind hyper focused on his mouth and that one word. Again.
‘Slowly let it out.’
He started circling me, studying me, and I twisted around to keep up. Round and round he went and by the third circle, my pistol jerked against my thigh.
‘Maintain your control.’
“My, my, my, look at how much you’ve grown since that day. It really is dreadful how much you look like your mother.”
The pulsing heat in my core throbbed as the temperature of the rest of my body dropped; the thump, thump, thump, in time with my racing heart as one by one my muscles lost more and more control. The pressure inside me had grown until it felt as if I’d burst apart any minute now. A tremor hit, jerking my arm violently enough it caught his attention.
He laughed. “That’s right. I know your tricks. How your body works. I don’t have to lift a finger.”
Terror ripped its way through me shredding the last of my control. The final push my sixes needed. He’d purposely used them against me. Like a fucking pro. And I stood there, locked inside my own worst nightmare. My own personal Hell. A prisoner of my own body as the convulsions took over and worked their way down my body.
He stepped up as my knees gave under the spasms and I cried out as I pitched forward and he caught me by the hair.
“You can only hide from your past for so long before it catches you. It always will.”
I hung there, a limp, shaking mess, as he wrenched my neck back so I was looking into his bright silvery blue eyes full of pride.
“Gotcha.”
He studied my face then shook his head and tisked down at me. “It’s destiny.”
Headlights lit up the shadowed street behind his head and I prayed it was Sutton as tears clouded my vision.
They hit us dead on and got closer and closer. A spotlight to the final showdown highlighting his dark angry features and the menacing smirk as heat seared through my pelvis. My body winced as my pelvic bone was nicked and I helplessly stared up at him.
“Good luck breeding that blasphemous bastard now.” Triumph shone from his eyes as he jerked his arm and pulled away. His eyes flicked to the side, and he released my hair.
My knees hit the pavement, and I stared into the bright lights as I fell backwards until my head hit the ground and all I could see was the dark night shy.
He’d stabbed me.
“Lily!”
My heart shattered hearing Sutton scream the pet name he’d given me the first and only time he’d ever kissed me as I laid there. Tears ran freely now, down the side of my face into my hair, as heavy boot steps thundered on the pavement and a large dog jumped over me briefly blocking out my view of the moon.
“Lily, baby.” His voice was choked as he skidded to a halt and his head came into my line of vision.
His breathing was harsh, his eyes a little too wide, as he looked down my body and I felt him tou
ch my stomach before he looked back up.
Pain. Guilt. Sorrow. Regret. All warred within his eyes and into my soul.
My head rocked as he moved it into his hands and brushed my hair away with tears in his eyes. “No, baby, no.”
He brought his face down and pressed his forehead against mine. His tears fell into my eyes as he cried and I wanted to wipe them away.
I’d never seen him cry, and I didn’t like it. Tears didn’t belong on his face.
His stupid beautiful face.
To be continued…
Thank you
They say it takes a village.
Well, it took the journey of writing a book to find my tribe.
Thank you.
To my husband. See, I haven’t strangled you in your sleep yet, so I win. The Mostest. The end. BAM!
To my amazingly talented wifey Bee, who supported and gave me the courage to do this at all and wouldn't let me give up. Thanks for not giving up on me.
Kelly- you'll always be the squirrel to my moose woman. There are no words.
Beth-Thank you. Just thank you! For everything. You and Kelly are the best cheerleaders a girl could ever ask for.
My Aussie babes- Chelle and Mel- you two nutcases are my nighttime warriors! You caught all my crazy and gave it back in spades. I adore you.
And last, but certainly not least, I’d be remiss if I didn’t give the biggest thanks one can to my ever patient PA Savannah. Thank you so very much for sticking with me through this last year. I would not be here today without you.
Acknowledgments
I’d also like to thank my Alpha team who put up with me during the complete scheduling disaster of 2020 and for all of your help to make this as good as it could possibly be.
A huge shout-out to all the bloggers and bookstagrammers who have shown me so much love and support! You guys are absolutely AMAZING! You blow me away every time. Thank you.
About the Author
Author Rhylie Matthews is fluent in English, sarcasm, and GIFs. She hates long walks on the beach, but loves whiskey and speaking about herself in third person. Go figure!
She lives in Georgia with too many cats, a giant Great Dane that thinks he’s also a cat, and 2 red headed monsters (some refer to them as her kids). There’s a husband in there somewhere as well, but he hides a lot.
When she’s not writing her own books, she’s busy running 2 businesses; her jewelry shop and being a creative consultant for authors.
Rhylie is addicted to coffee, music, and books - yep, that last one was a big surprise!
She’s permanently behind ON EVERYTHING, which she’s sure her team loves ;)
She also loves chatting with her readers, so don't be shy!
You can find her in all these places!
http://www.rhyliematthews.com/
Instagram
Amazon
Facebook
Bookbub
GoodReads
Trust In Lust Page 17